Hi Sarah - I have the same dilemma/decision to make. Have you decided what to do or received any good advice from other sources? Did you happen to consider corner drawers? (see photo)

Thanks -

Tama

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I love my blind corner pull out. We have a ton of large items in there that would have otherwise wound up on my counter: full size food processor, 2 spice grinders, 2 mini food processors, an instapot, a full size vitamix, an Oster blender, and likely a few more things I can't think of.... It is very sturdy and super easy to swing the items in and out. I am guessing that people who are down on them have had crappy ones.

Mine looks something like this one

So you would be able to see everything without taking everything out. That being said, I don't know if it would work for utensils and plastic wrap, etc.... but maybe it would work for Tama Hill

The main caveat is that getting a good one is pricy, so keep that in mind.

@Tama Hill, I haven't looked into it, but I will definitely ask a cab maker. Do you know if it takes up the same footprint of the susan in terms of 12"/12" on each side of the L? I think that these are much more expensive than other options...

@Hillside House, Thanks for your input. On the one hand I agree with you about the dead corner with drawers, but I worry about giving up too much space because I don't have a lot. I want to be able to store all my snack food in this area. Why do you think a super susan is the least useful? I have used it to store food and pots and pans in two different kitchens. I thought it was pretty useful for food (except big chip bags) but I don't like it for pots and pans.

@Hillside House and @robinlmorris, I've never used a blind pull-out. People say they are very functional, but what about for food and with kids? My thought was that my kids would get frustrated with it now while they're young AND whip the shelf out when they're older. Does anyone know if this will work well with kids??

They all lose some space, just because of the logistics. A super susan is a round tray in a square space... all of the corners are unusable. The pull out is, also, rounded, but one of the corners more so than the super susan, so you've lost even more space. Even the diagonal drawers that Tama posted lose a triangle shaped slice on each side.

So, which one gives you the most usable space with what is left? Super Susan's are notorious for losing things back in the corner, and you only have two shelves. So, fine for tall things like cereal boxes, not so great for short things like boxes of tin foil.

Pull-outs have the same restrictions, with the added bonus of lighter-weight items falling off the shelf into the back corner as you pull it in or out. Or short, flat ones sliding underneath the rail guard and into the back corner. Again, you have only two 12-15" tall spaces, so while it works for things like tall appliances (like Robin uses it for) it's not great for your needs.

That brings us to the two drawer options. As everyone who's spent any amount of time here knows, drawers are - bar none - the most effective storage in the kitchen. It's one movement to open and one to close, as opposed to multiple movements to get items from a super Susan or pull-out, which makes it more time-efficient, too.

So, one drawer bank of diagonal drawers, or two, with a voided corner? The diagonal drawers are undoubtedly going to cost more, just because they are not as common. It only gives you 30" of height to divide into various drawers. Two banks gives you twice as many options, so you can have as many shallow and deep drawers as you want.

And, yes, your thoughts about your kids is on point. I can't tell you how many times I saw my normally respectful kids (and even my husband a time or two) use the door to "help" push the kidney pull-out back in place, or slide it with a bit more energy than necessary. They would also close the door before the super Susan was back where it went, resulting in bangs to the interior of the doors.

@Hillside House or anyone else...Is there such a thing as an easy reach base cabinet? I imagine it wouldn't be full depth, but even a half-depth easy reach might be a good use of space. I've seen easy reach corner uppers but not a base cab.

Yes, I’ve had that, too. It was a black hole of epic proportions. On a positive note, that’s how I ended up with a nice springform pan that the previous owner of my last house lost back there.

An easy-reach upper cabinet is only 12 or 15” deep. A lower one is 24”, so there’s a lot more space. Have you ever had to get on your knees to shift stuff around in just a regular base cabinet? Now, image you’re reaching diagonally, and can’t see in there to boot.

@Hillside House That doesn't sound like fun!

But springform pan! :D

@Hillside House When we were demoing our new kitchen, I kept hoping that the previous owners left us something...like a bag of money. Alas, all we found were a couple of old chopsticks.

I was going to do a custom corner drawer but hated the idea of a 12 inch lower cab next to it. I voided the corner to get a wide drawer stack...it was absolutely the right choice for my kitchen....and saved me $!

@rantontoo That is one of my considerations...the impact to the neighboring cabinets in terms of size. I'm planning on 30" deep countertops so that reduces my drawer sizes even further.

I do wish there was something I could DO with a voided corner. There is no access from the other side as with a peninsula. I tried to think of some out of the box solutions...like cutting a hole in the countertop over the voided corner and dropping a basket in for onions or potatoes or something like that. I wonder if there are any other solutions out there for using that space...

I honestly do not regret losing that space since I got much better space usage without it.

What is your upper cabinet situation there? I have a 24" deep cabinet running all the way down to the counter over my voided corner. It is sort of an appliance garage, ish. It houses a drawer with my toaster/bread/butter dish (we open to use and then slide it closed when we are finished), our built-in microwave above that, and then deeper storage for rarely used items like serving platters, that don't fit easily in a standard-depth upper cabinet.

Maybe this was addressed in your other thread, but now I'm actually looking at your layout, instead of just answering your generic question. I would move the DW to the right side of your sink... it will give a better separation between your cleanup area and your prep area. I would turn the remaining 12" into vertical storage for your cutting boards and cookie sheets, and do drawers on the right (fridge)side, as well as left of the sink, where the dishwasher was. I would do upper cabinets on the whole right wall, from the corner to the fridge, going from the top all the way down to the countertop... and I would do them out of glass, to create sort of a built-in hutch. Your Fiestaware will look gorgeous displayed there.

@Hillside House Right now the dishwasher is to the right of the fridge, but I thought moving it to the left would make unloading much easier. Right now when the DW is open, I would have to take the dishes and cups out and stack them on the countertop above and on the other side of the DW (even sort of leaning to do so), then close the dishwasher to actually access the wall cabinets on the fridge wall. I know that the DW ends up in the prep area but it seems like this is less bad than the unloading situation. What do you think?

I would LOVE the look of a hutch with uppers coming down to the countertops. But, I have 4 things I use daily that I have to either have on the countertop or somewhere else. I'm still trying to figure this out:

• microwave (I'm still trying to find a good spot...countertop, shelf above, shelf below, drawer?)
• breville smart oven that I use to cook and toast
• espresso machine that needs at least 20" in width (and would be best not too far from water)
• berkey water filter that is 9" in diameter and has to be next to sink

I can move the sink, fridge, and stove anywhere, but I don't want any on the island. That will be my main prep area b/c that's how I operate - I spread out a lot. I'm considering swapping the stove and the fridge but I'm still thinking about whether that gives me enough space around the stove and whether the island prep area is still asa useful.

Any input on the layout would be MUCH appreciated. You all are geniuses.